Lostwhithiel
Lostwhithiel Bannorn Currently administered by Siorus Cadigan with the help of his seneschal, Beck, Lostwhithiel is the ancestral home of the Cadigan family. The bannorn comprises a modest castle – a walled structure with a keep, kitchen garden, small orchard, barracks, armory and yard – a collection of farms, and a small village. The castle lies about a mile north east from the village, the land between and surrounding the castle given over to vineyards and orchards. In exchange for protection and commerce the freeholders supply the Cadigans with goods and services. Lostwhithiel farms produce the usual assortment of goods, grain, meat, wool, dairy, vegetables. The orchards grow apples and there is a cherry season and peach season. What sets the small bannorn apart from its neighbours are the vineyards. In particular, Lostwhithiel is known for its fortified wine, made from grapes specially suited to the cool climate and harsh winters. The village itself is little more than a crossroads, a single intersection marking the highway between Lothering and Kinloch Hold. Travelers are housed in an inn which also serves as tavern. The village also features a general store, a guard outpost, and bowyer. South of the village, a road runs toward the eastern inlet of Lake Calenhad. A single dock serves the small fishing trade. Dotted amongst the residents of the village are an herbalist/apothecary and leatherworker. Lostwhithiel hosts a seasonal market, each set to coincide with a holiday. These are usually festive occasions, an excuse to do more than exchange goods and services. Anything not produced by the local farms or carried by the merchant caravans can usually be found in Lothering, a day’s walk to the south. Two of the farms sport smiths capable of making repairs to weapons and armour, but mostly dedicated to shoeing oxen, making barrels, nails, farm tools and the like. Better arms and armour would have have to be procured from Lothering, Redcliffe or Denerim. Some of the freeholders and villagers are distant cousins to the Cadigans. Important People Eadwig Cadigan Former Bann of Lostwhithiel. Deceased. Lynneth Cadigan First wife of Eadwig Cadigan. Deceased. Siorus Cadigan Bann of Lostwhithiel. Son of Eadwig and Lynneth. Wrenna Hammond (Cadigan) Second wife of Eadwig Cadigan. Solange Brind'Amour Siorus' lover and constant companion. . Castle Personnel Seneschal Beck Grieve (Dialogue colour = Human Blue) In his early sixties, Seneschal Beck is a tall man with a slightly stooped posture. He favours plain clothing, neat tunics and breeches in dark, understated tones. Age has turned dark hair almost uniformly grey, but has not dimmed the light or intelligence in his blue eyes. His face has a kind aspect despite a hooked nose, and he smiles easily and often. Beck has seen much of life, however, and is no fool. Beck is extremely fond of Siorus. Though he’d be the first to admit he does not know the former mercenary well, he remembers the quiet, self possessed boy. He does feel guilt over being the one to recommend Eadwig send his son away, but still believes he did the right thing. Beck sought not only to protect Siorus from his father’s madness, but from the taint of it. The seneschal is more than a capable administrator. Though his friendship with Eadwig has been tested throughout the years, Beck remains loyal to the Cadigan family and hopes to see Siorus succeed as a bann. Moesen Cadigan (27)(Dialogue colour = Light Blue) Assistant Seneschal. Five feet, ten inches. Dark brown hair and blue eyes. Quiet, studious and attentive, Moesen is apprenticed to Beck. He will become seneschal, when the older man retires. Moesen is Siorus' second cousin. The two men knew each other as boys, but not well. Mary (33) (Dialogue colour = Pink) Cook. Five feet, five inches, an ample figure. Brown hair and bright, blue eyes. Born in Lostwhithiel, Mary went up to the castle to cook for the Cadigans at age 20. She enjoyed her position in the keep and married one of the guards five years later. A quiet, but cheerful woman, she got along well with the elder bann, Eadwig Cadigan, and was genuinely pleased for him when he brought home his young wife. Her delight sooned turned to horror as she witnessed his descent into madness, however. She entertained thoughts of leaving, but had a young child to think of, as well as Wrenna Hammond - though what a cook might do, she did not know. The Blight intervened, taking her husband and, toward the end, the bann himself. Mary and her daugher found refuge with Beck, Lostwhithiel's former and current seneschal, and a group of villagers and waited out the darkspawn invasion and civil war. Afterwards, she, her daughter and Beck returned to Lostwhithiel to help rebuild. She rarely speaks, except to Beck, and regards Siorus with suspicion and fear. She is cordial and reserved toward the other staff/residents. Deryn (6) (Dialogue colour = Medium Orchid) Mary's daughter. Like her mother, Deryn is quiet, but not sullenly so. She follows her mother where she can and if not in the kitchen, is often in Beck’s company. Ethan Haumann (24) (Dialogue colour = Teal) Ethan Haumann stands a spare five feet, ten inches with his boots on and... rarely takes his boots off. He has an unruly mop of brown hair, matching brown eyes and a ready smile. A carpenter’s son, Ethan had not long finished his apprenticeship when the darkspawn surged out of the Wilds and changed the course of his future. His father went to join the king’s army at Ostagar and never returned. When the darkspawn approached Lothering, Ethan assisted in the efforts to protect his village. In the end, they failed and he joined the retreat, taking his mother and sister with him. He journeyed north into the bannorn, secured his family with their cousins and joined the fight against Loghain’s men. After the Blight, Ethan and his cousin Thomas returned to Lothering to help rebuild. Ethan currently serves as a guard and general hand at Lostwhithiel Castle. Besides being a skilled carpenter (construction more than cabinetry), he is a talented archer. Thomas Clacher (29) (Dialogue colour = Dalish Green) Thomas Clacher is a labourer. Five years older than Ethan, Thomas is a large man – six feet at least, and broad shouldered. He resembles his cousin, brown hair and brown eyes, but is definitely the more talkative of the two. In fact, he can be quite garrulous. The third son of a stone mason, Thomas had a place in his father’s business, but wasn’t necessary to it. And, after the Blight, he was eager step out of the shadow of his older brothers and strike out on his own. Thomas followed his cousin back to Lothering and lent a hand to rebuilding efforts. He has some skill as a mason, but never completed his apprenticeship due to a conflicting interest in more martial arts. He wields a two handed sword with confidence. Thomas currently serves as sergeant of the Lostwhithiel Guard. Emmaline Clacher (25) (Dialogue colour = Light Green) Emmaline (Emma, please) Clacher is Thomas’ younger sister. While more slight than her brother (thank the Maker) and more fair, she shares his brown eyes and easy smile. Despite having a figure designed for the conception and bearing of children (if another man tells her that...), she is not particularly feminine. Not outwardly, anyway. Tired of her parents suggestions she would die an old maid (not a chaste one, mind you), Emma opted to accompany her brother south to Lothering. Having spent much of her life rejecting frilly dresses and sewing lessons, Emma has some skill with a pair of daggers and a likes to make a game of slipping between shadows when she can. She also likes to see what folks keep in their pockets. She’d never steal from anyone who looked as if they needed it more than her, though. Emma currently serves as a guard and general hand at Lostwhithiel Castle. Pedr and Nia Feld (Both 26) (Dialogue colour, Pedr = Beige, Nia = Mage Purple) Elven. Both slight, Pedr stands 5’6” and Nia 5’2”. Pedr has brown hair and large, brown eyes. Nia’s hair is similiar to her husbands, but her eyes are a mossy green colour. They have been married for three years. They grew up together on a farm outside Lothering and wed just before the Blight. Six months later, darkspawn overran Lothering and the surrounding farms. Pedr and Nia escaped together and managed to stay ahead of the darkspawn. They lived off of sick and sparse crops, found work when they could and scavenged the pantries of abandoned farms when they could not. Since the end of the Blight, work has been easier to find, but nothing permanent. Meeting them in Lothering (Cloudreach, 32 Dragon), Siorus invited the pair to work for him in Lostwhithiel. Pedr works as a labourer, within the castle of in the fields as required, and Nia serves as a maid. They have the second room in the barracks to themselves. Tam (28) (Dialogue colour = NPC Tan) Guard. Villagers *George McAllen - Proprietor of McAllen's, the inn/tavern. *Bettina Sloan - herbalist/apothecary Lostwhithiel Wine Wine Lostwhithiel produces three varieties of wine and three brandies (distilled wines). Depending upon who is making the recommendation, the vineyard is either best known for its distinctive Grawnwyn wine – produced from a grape of the same name – or the Gaerog, one of the first brandies produced by a Fereldan vineyard. Of the other two wines, one is a full bodied red, simple enough to appeal to most palates. One well versed in wine might pick the Lostwhithiel variety from the South Reach variety of Arbor red based on fruit component and acidity. The Anwadal is a blend of the vineyard’s two grapes, which, depending on the season, is either a good wine, or a great wine. A limited number of these bottles are produced, and half are usually sold before the grapes have ripened. Some vintages of the blend fetch a high price on the market. The other varieties of brandy are more refined than the popular Gaerog and are produced in smaller quantities. They are aged for longer in barrels of imported oak. History In the 49thyear of the Storm Age, Ernst Cadigan replaced an aging orchard with a small vineyard. He used a Fereldan vine obtained from Amaranthine and produced a wine no one would drink. Matured into brandy, it was palatable. A decade later, he imported a vine from the southern Dales, thinking it more suitable to the climate of the southern bannorn. The vine, named ‘Arbor’, adapted well to the land and produced a wine worthy of bottling. Ernst called it ‘Arbor Red’ and sold the wine, grapes and vines to his neighbours. The Arbor grape is used throughout the bannorn to produce wine, but only Lostwhithiel matures the wine into brandy—the Gaerog, the foundation of Lostwhithiel’s heritage. With an eye on the southern pasture—cooler, shadier—Aeron Cadigan imported a new vine from the Mont-de-Glace region of Orlais. He called it the Grawnwyn, meaning ‘white berries’. The red grape had a more delicate flavour than the robust Arbor, and produced a wine that aged more gracefully. The gift of a bottle of Grawnwyn changed the history of Lostwhithiel. While the Arbor remained popular in the bannorn—a wine for common folk and the noblemen who would drink with them, the Grawnwyn became the wine kept apart. Produced in lesser volume, it acquired a cachet and commanded a higher price. A wealthy merchant gave a bottle to a nobleman to sweeten a deal, citing the little known wine as exotic. The nobleman gave the bottle to his father, a careless gesture. His father, an arl, tasted the wine and declared it ‘the best wine produced in Ferelden’. He ordered a barrel. From there, word spread, and Lostwhithiel planted more vines. Throughout the Blessed Age and the Occupation, Lostwhithiel maintained its holdings, enduring distrust on both sides. Orlesians scoffed at the wine, even while drinking it, and many Fereldans turned to ale in defiance. Wine ages and travels better than ale, however, making it a mainstay. Lostwhithiel weathered the Occupation better than many. In Blessed 32, Glyn Cadigan combined the two varieties of grape to produce a new wine. Eight years later, he named the blend Anwadal, meaning ‘fickle’. Depending on the season, the Anwadal is either a good wine or a great wine. It is produced in extremely limited quantities and half the bottles might be sold before the grapes have ripened. Some vintages of the blend fetch an exorbitantly high price. The fifth Blight spared Lostwhithiel’s vineyards, but not its bann. Eadwig Cadigan is thought to have fallen to the darkspawn while his second wife made her escape. Scarred by rumour and circumstance, and unprepared to take on responsibility for the bannorn, Wrenna Hammond Cadigan willingly handed the reins to Siorus Cadigan, Eadwig’s son by his first wife. Siorus has spent eight months restoring his inheritance. Judiciously selling select vintages from the cellar, he financed restoration of the keep and castle. Calling on the men of the bannorn for help, he has tended a few acres of vineyard and has prepared for his first harvest. Category:Locations